Author Description

In The 1980s Steven Johnson, An Inmate In Maryland, Applied For Work In The Education Department Of His Prison. After Being Denied The Job, He Filed A Federal Lawsuit Asserting That He Did Not Get The Job Because A Prison Guard Told The Head Of The Department, Dr. Knable, That Johnson Was A Homosexual (slavitt 1995). The Trial Court Initially Dismissed Johnson's Complaint, But The U.s. Court Of Appeals Overruled That Dismissal And Stated The Following: If Johnson Was Denied A Prison Work Assignment Simply Because Of His Sexual Orientation, His Equal Protection Rights May Have Been Violated. An Appellate Federal Court Hinting That Sexuality Could Be A Protected Class Seems Like The Kind Of Case That Would Have Made Quite A Splash In The Legal Community. Except For One Critical Fact. The Opinion Was Designated By The Judges Who Issued It As An Unpublished Ruling. This Designation Meant That It Was Not Binding Precedent. As A Result, It Generated Little Discussion. Johnson V. Knable Illustrates That Virtually Any Case Can Be Rendered Largely Invisible Simply By Not Being Published-- Provided By Publisher.